Infrared saunas can provide a soothing and relaxing end-of-day routine. They can also provide your body with a number of health benefits. But did you know that infrared saunas can also help with skincare and directly boost the health of your skin cells? Let’s explore infrared sauna skin care benefits!
Infrared Saunas – How Do They Work?
Put simply, infrared saunas use specialized emitters to beam infrared radiation: an invisible kind of light that we can’t see but we can definitely feel. Infrared saunas warm your body in a different way compared to traditional saunas, which utilize heat to warm the air around you. This eventually transfers heat to your skin and your deeper tissues over time.
In contrast, infrared heat can more easily penetrate both your skin and other tissues near the surface. As a result, the heat can get to your deeper tissues more quickly and effectively. Infrared heat can quickly warm your body’s internal temperature and cause a positive cascade of biochemical responses.
How Do Infrared Saunas Help Your Skin?
Ok, so we know that infrared saunas can heat your body more effectively than traditional saunas, but how does this benefit your skin health?
Well, as your body’s internal temperature rises, your blood vessels dilate (meaning they get a little wider) and blood circulation improves across the board. As your circulation improves, your skin receives more fresh, oxygenated blood than it otherwise would.
This oxygenated blood also carries a variety of vitamins and nutrients that would otherwise take quite some time to reach your epidermis. All of these effects create a few near-immediate skin care benefits:
- Skin color. Your skin color will become more vibrant and colorful as blood reaches the epidermis.
- Nutrients. With improved blood flow, your skin receives additional vitamins and minerals.
- Rejuvenation. Increased blood flow and nutrients can also help your skin cells to replicate or repair themselves faster.
- Collagen. Collagen production increases. We’ll take a deeper dive into this benefit below.
Collagen & Elastin Boosts
Infrared sauna therapy can help your skin primarily because of its collagen and elastin boosting effects. In a nutshell, collagen is a specific type of protein that your skin cells normally make by themselves. But they can only do so when they have enough vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin C.
Collagen
Collagen is responsible for your skin’s firmness, essentially affecting how smooth and youthful-looking it is. Our bodies naturally produce less collagen as we get older, which is one of the reasons why our skin accrues wrinkles and other minor imperfections over time.
By stimulating blood flow throughout your body, your skin cells will get more vitamin C and other vital nutrients. These nutrients can then help your skin cells to create more collagen, thus decreasing the likelihood of wrinkle formation and helping your skin to look and feel smoother and younger.
Elastin
In addition to collagen, your skin cells produce a secondary compound called elastin. As the name suggests, elastin affects how bouncy or elastic your skin is. Elastin affects skin repair and how wrinkly your skin is as well. Just like with collagen, better blood flow means your skin cells can create more elastin.
Detoxification
By enjoying a soothing infrared sauna session, you’ll also potentially help your skin by inciting a detoxification process. Most people already know that any good sauna session involves heavy sweating.
Acne is primarily caused by clogged pores, which can become more likely if your skin produces too much oil for hydration or if your pores collect dirt and toxins over time. When you sweat excessively in your sauna, you’ll eliminate toxins and other impurities from your skin’s pores. As a result, you might experience less frequent acne outbreaks and overall clearer skin!
When Should You Use Infrared Saunas for Your Skin?
Since infrared saunas can significantly help with skin texture and repair, folks with wrinkling or sagging skin might very well enjoy a few sauna sessions per week. When used in conjunction with moisturizers and certain skincare routines, you might see rapid results in regard to skin wrinkles or aging spots.
Those with incessant acne might also consider trying an infrared sauna session to sweat out dirt and toxins from their pores, especially if they’ve already tried other anti-acne strategies to little effect.
Best Practices for Infrared Sauna Use
While the sweating produced by an infrared sauna session can help to detoxify your pores and make your skin a healthier place, you need to make sure that you thoroughly wash your skin after every infrared sauna session. Fail to do so, and your sweat may actually sweep dirt and dead skin cells back into your pores, exacerbating any existing acne issues.
Furthermore, be sure not to spend too long in your sauna. You could accidentally overheat yourself and cause negative side effects like fatigue or nausea. To avoid these effects, do yourself a favor and drink a glass of water before any infrared sauna session. This will also help you sweat more easily!
Get Started Today
All in all, infrared sauna sessions can provide many skin care benefits. Experience the difference for yourself with a personal infrared sauna in your own home!
Explore the Clearlight® Clearlight Infrared Sauna models available at The Sauna Life today. We have options available for indoor and outdoor use as well as options ranging from cozy one-person saunas to 4-5 person saunas that are great for small groups.